What is shared care in a
Family Court parenting
order?

Shared care

"Shared care" is a term used in the Family Court to refer to a variety of care arrangements for children. It may, or may not involve 50/50 shared care of the children.

IRD & WINZ

The Family Court is different from both the Inland Revenue Department and Work and Income who deem care of a child to be shared if a parent cares for a child for at least 40% of the nights (146 nights) of the child support year (usually from 1 April to 31 March). The word “night” has its usual meaning—it is simply the time between evening and morning, from one day to the next.

In some situations a person might not care for a child for 40% or more of the nights, but special circumstances exist that may mean the ongoing daily care of the child is shared substantially equally between the two carers. Consideration will be given to recognising shared care in these situations on a case-by-case basis. The following situations may be considered as special circumstances and treated as a shared care arrangement. One person can’t care for the child overnight but looks after them every day. One person looks after the child for slightly fewer than the minimum number of nights (146 nights or 40% of the time), but also provides extensive daytime care and extras, such as health care, school fees, uniforms, and sporting fees.

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Contact Family Lawyer

Antoinette Vujnovich, family lawyer, is available by appointment at the following locations:

Waihi, Bay of Plenty

Waihi Community Resource Centre
4 Mueller St, Waihi
p: (07) 929 7982
m: 021 210 0930

Katikati, Bay of Plenty

15 Talisman Drive, Katikati
p: (07) 929 7982
m: 021 210 0930

Manukau City, Auckland